Look Not Into the Eyes
by Aldraia Dragonsong
Summary: A rewrite of "The Other Side".    Two children and their Pokémon are caught up in the aftermath of the Red Chain Disaster when their innocent travels lead them to a place they should perhaps have avoided.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Well. Some of you may remember the original version of this story, _The Other Side_. Regrettably, I started that without a real idea of where I was going with it, and, well... it was not _bad_ exactly, but it dragged on without really getting very far. I decided it would be easier to simply start over from the beginning rather than continue from where I left off.

This version is rather different, although the basic plot is the same.

Updates will be slow, but I will make every effort to eventually finish this. Please have patience with me.

I hope you enjoy the story.

Look Not Into The Eyes

_What now is called tomorrow will soon be yesterday._

_Time rushes past and memory slowly fades away._

Chapter One

"_Wake up!"_

The plea came alternately in barks and keening whines.

"_Wake up..."_

An Umbreon nuzzled a boy lying in the snow. The boy gave no response.

"_You're not supposed to sleep in the snow. So wake up!"_

There was still no response.

The Umbreon did the only thing he could think of: he took the boy's collar in his teeth and started trying to drag him through the snow.

Suddenly the Umbreon's ears pricked up, and he left his task a moment to look up and back.

A Glaceon emerged from the whirling snow that fell everywhere in that place.

"_Your trainer collapsed?"_ she asked.

"_He's not my trainer,"_ the Umbreon explained. _"He's my friend."_

The Glaceon nodded to show she understood, and moved to look at the boy.

"_Has he been asleep a long time?"_ she asked.

"_I don't know how long is a long time. About the time to run to the mountains and back again, I think."_

"_Not too long, then, but we should hurry."_

The Glaceon threw back her head and let out a wordless cry.

Other Glaceon gradually emerged from the snowstorm as well, along with two Eevee.

"_My siblings,"_ the first Glaceon explained quickly, _"and my children, who should not have come."_ In the manner of all parents, human or Pokémon, this last was said with a glare in the direction of disobedient progeny.

"_We want to help!"_ one Eevee objected.

"_There's no time to argue,"_ another Glaceon put in. _"That human doesn't look well."_

The first Glaceon nodded.

"_We're carrying the human to the house near here, where the two nice old humans live. You children, run ahead and give them what warning you can."_

"_Right!"_ The two Eevee immediately rushed off, turning their task into a race to get there first.

Their mother turned to the Umbreon.

"_Now, we have to carry him. We've done this a few times before, so this is what you need to do..."_

The Umbreon was proud and did not like to take orders from strangers. But worry for his friend overrode such concerns, and though he was annoyed, he submitted to the Glaceon's directions.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

She awoke in a forest.

Anna sat up carefully, examining her surroundings. There were no others that she could see, neither people nor Pokémon, save an Espeon that lay near her, asleep.

The Espeon's tail twitched. Then its ear.

The Espeon's eyes opened.

"Hello there," Anna said softly. "Would you happen to know where this is?"

The Espeon stood up, glancing languidly at the girl sitting in the clearing. It then turned and ran a few paces, hopping up onto a mossy rock.

_-I do not know where this is, but it seems a nice enough place.-_

Anna blinked once, slowly. She was certain she had heard a voice, like the Espeon was speaking, and yet... not quite speaking.

_-It is a pretty forest,-_ she thought, trying to send the thought in the Espeon's direction. Anna was not entirely certain why she felt that would work, but then, she had no proof that it would not.

The Espeon's ear twitched again.

_-You... you are psychic also?-_

"Yes," Anna said aloud. "It seems so. It makes my head hurt, though... I will talk aloud, if that is all right."

The Espeon dipped her head.

_-It is acceptable,-_ she assured the girl.

"My name is Anna," the girl said. "Do you have a name?"

The Espeon cocked her head, thinking. After a moment, she nodded.

_-My name, to humans, is Erisna,-_ she answered.

"Who gave you that name?" Anna asked, curious.

Erisna cocked her head again, and this time she thought longer. At last she replied, -_I do not remember.-_

Anna stood up, looking around again. She still did not recognize the place.

"Do you know how I got here?" she asked.

Erisna shook her head.

"Ah well," Anna sighed. "I had hoped. I suppose I shall look around. Would you like to come with me?"

Erisna considered the question for a time, tail waving back and forth. Eventually, she nodded, and leaped down from the mossy rock.

The girl and the Espeon walked deeper into the forest, neither questioning the fact that they had both randomly picked the same direction.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Thump-thump._

An old woman looked up from her knitting, setting her feet to stop the rocking of her chair.

_Thump-thump._

She set her knitting aside and began the walk to the front door. Her pace was slowed by age, and several more of the odd double-thumps passed before she finally opened the door and saw the two small Eevee waiting outside.

"Hello there, little ones," the old woman said warmly. "Do come in."

The little Pokémon needed no further urging to dash into the shelter of the cabin. The old woman was about to close the cabin door when she noticed movement out in the snow and paused to look more closely.

She was soon glad she had, for the sight that greeted her eyes was a small group of Glaceon working together to drag a boy through the snow. One walked in front of the rest, not dragging as they were, but instead watching where they were going and calling out periodically to guide the others. They were surprisingly swift, considering the weight of their burden, and soon had him on her doorstep.

The old woman yelled for her husband.

"Honey, boil some water! There's a boy here dying of cold!"

She then looked down at the Pokémon and asked, "Will you help me get him in?"

The one who had walked in front, seemingly their leader, nodded, and the Glaceon dragged the boy into the cabin.

It was only after she had tucked the boy into bed, when she returned from fetching some extra blankets, that she noticed the Umbreon that had come in with the other Pokémon. The Glaceon had curled up on the rug in the center of the main room and the Eevee were huddled together near the fireplace, but the Umbreon had jumped up onto the bed and settled down next to the boy.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, remembering. "You're the two who were here a few days ago, aren't you?"

The Umbreon nodded.

"But where's the girl that was with you?" the old woman asked worriedly.

The Umbreon put his head down on his front paws, and his ears drooped despondently.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: With profuse apologies for the long delay.

Chapter Four

Anna and Erisna walked deeper into the forest. At first they merely wandered at random, but soon the Espeon paused, ears perking up.

_-I hear something,-_ she informed Anna. She turned to face the sound. _-This way.-_

Anna turned that way as well.

"I hear nothing," she admitted.

_-Perhaps my ears are more sensitive than yours.-_

"That would make sense. Do you want to go look?"

_-I would like that.-_

They did not need to travel long before Anna could hear it too: the sound of a flute being played in the distance. Erisna moved a little more quickly as they drew closer.

_-This sound, something about it draws me.-_

"It is quite pretty," Anna observed.

_-It runs deeper than that.-_

Erisna's thoughts were slightly confused and a little frustrated. Anna could tell that the Espeon did not like not knowing why she felt this way.

Soon the girl could also feel it -a slight sensation a bit like someone was tugging her arm, except that the feeling was mental. Tugging on her mind? It was so faint that she was not entirely certain that she was not simply feeling an echo of what Erisna felt, whether because the psychic Pokémon was broadcasting or because Anna was empathic. Either was possible.

The two companions arrived in a clearing filled with forest Pokémon: Murkrow, Starly, Wurmple, Budew, and Buneary. The Pokémon sat in a semicircular formation. In the center of this semicircle was a rock. Upon the rock sat a woman playing the flute Erisna had heard, her dark brown hair falling straight about her head.

Anna and Erisna stopped at the edge of the clearing, captivated by the sound.

The woman played, eyes closed, the music of her flute ringing through the forest. In time, the sound wound to an end.

The woman opened her eyes, revealing purple irises. The sound of her playing ceased.

"Hello there," she said, lowering the flute. The gathered Pokémon began to drift away.

"It isn't often that I get human visitors," the woman noted. "What brings you to the Piper's Woods?"

Anna considered the question for a long moment. At last she replied, "I don't know."

The woman raised her eyebrows.  
>"You don't know? And how is that?"<p>

"I woke up nearby," Anna answered, "and I don't remember anything before that."

The stranger looked concerned.

"Oh dear. That isn't good. Come, I'll get you to a doctor."

* * *

><p>The piper led Anna to a nearby city, which she identified as Jubilife City. After that, it was a short walk to the hospital.<p>

"Name?" the clerk asked calmly.

"Anna."

"And what brings you to the hospital today?"

"Total amnesia."

The clerk typed something into his computer, looking impressively unruffled.

"Have a seat in the waiting room and a nurse will be with you when one is available."

* * *

><p>The doctors concluded that nothing was physically wrong with Anna, but one, a psychic neurologist, mentioned that there were indications of a recent and nasty psychic assault on her mind.<p>

"I don't know of any psychics who can cause this kind of total amnesia, but that doesn't mean they don't exist," she added. "All I can suggest is waiting to see if your memory comes back. To my senses, the memories are just... gone. I regret to say that there is nothing I can do to help you."

* * *

><p>Anna left the hospital in a bit of a daze. It was not until they were halfway to the forest that it occurred to her that she still had no idea who the other woman <em>was<em>.

"You know," Anna said, "I didn't get your name."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Tasha Piper, at your service."

Anna looked at Erisna.

"Well... now what?"

_-I do not know.-_

"You could stay with me for a while," Tasha offered. "I could use the company."

"I think," Anna replied, "that I will take you up on that."


End file.
